Details, Details: Escort Card Display Upgrade

Assigned table seating is fairly common for larger events (especially weddings), and has a pretty important purpose — to ensure guests sit where they’ll be most comfortable, and near those they know and love. Essential to pulling off assigned table seating is the escort card display — another detail that can either ooze personality and creativity, or just simply function to direct guests to their correct tables. Being a fan of creativity, I say you may as well have it be a stand-out detail of your event — after all, this display is typically what welcomes guests and makes a first impression! A few ideas for upgrading from the standard table containing printed, tented name cards:

Incorporate Guest Gifts

There are two overarching ways to do this, but endless possibilities within each option. If your gift lends to integrating guest names and table numbers, you can include these in the actual gift. Some examples are: displaying the escort card information in a small decorative frame, including it on a cute pick or flag in a mini succulent or herb plant, or printing it on a label for a jar of honey or jam. The alternative is including the escort card information on the gift’s wrapping. This can be printed on ribbon, a gift tag or gift box.

Keep the Theme

Consider the escort card display as an extension of your theme! There’s no better way to be creative, and this welcomes guests with a foreshadowing of the motif to come. Woodsy wedding? Tuck escort cards into etched slots in branches or blocks of wood, or scrawl the information on rocks. Is romantic vintage more your style? Tie escort cards to antique keys, or print the information on pieces of fabric hung by clothespins on a pretty ribbon banner. Foodie? Display escort card information on a straw plunged in your signature drink, atop a cupcake, or pinned to a pretty piece of fruit.

Escort Card Substitute

Instead of individual escort cards, opt for a comprehensive seating display. This can be created by writing guest seating information on an old window’s panes of glass, or a fabulously framed chalkboard. You may also choose to coordinate this display with the event’s other collateral (invitations and programs) by printing guest names on large decorative cards (one per table). Display each table card in a pretty frame, on a quirky cork board — I could go on and on, but the sky’s really the limit!

Next week, I’ll begin discussing the logistical details that are absolutely essential to an event’s success. If I may have omitted a creative detail you’d like me to cover, leave a comment and I’ll revisit it in the new year!